I have been telling folks that my bunnies are as big as the neighbors’ beagle. Now I have a photo to prove it. Thankfully, I had my camera with me photographing bulbs when this encounter went down.
I spent every day last week sliding up and down the hills on cardboard.
No, not for amusement! I’ve been digging weeds.
Spring is just around the corner in NC. Wait for it………
Follow the Flower to spring.
It’s time. Finally.
Here’s what you need to start your seeds.
SEEDS, SOIL and SIGNS.
SEEDS can be what you’ve collected yourself (See Save the Seeds Post),
or what your friends sent you in their Christmas cards,
or some you bought.
SOIL must be fine for small seeds in pots .
or loosened and enriched with organic material, like compost or chopped leaves.
Think of it as plant “baby food”. You wouldn’t give a baby a big chunk to eat. Break it up.
If you use a Jiffy tray, keep it covered. Do not put this little greenhouse in direct sun or you will cook your babies.
SIGNS can be anything weather proof. I use colorful plastic knives from the party store.
If these need to be legible for long periods, etch the plant names with a Dremel Tool.
Six weeks from now these babies will go outside.
NOW…Start your seeds!
I send my words out into the world.
I get back numbers and flags,
and occasionally comments.
Sometimes I have to Ctrl C and Ctrl V these into a translator.
I love these beautiful languages with their own sounds and rhythms.
Do they read my words, or just look at my photos?
Do they really understand what I am trying to say?
Do they feel what I feel?
All I can do is let my words fly away and hope they land where they are needed.
A smile or a laugh from me,
in a land I will never see,
to friends I will never meet.
I hope I help you or brighten your day.
Your flags and numbers let me know you are out there,
but your words bring me joy.
Talk to the Flower.
I found another treasure yesterday.
Rare Treasures from the Library of the Natural History Museum.
DO NOT ROLL YOUR EYES!
It is NOT just a book.
It is a book of art about art in a box with art. JACKPOT!
There are thirty-six , 10 x 13 prints of famous paintings.
I have studied many of these works for years in my reading about plant hunters and their rare finds.
I feel like I have the whole world in my hands.
And now they are MINE…ALL MINE!
There are enough prints in here to cover every wall in this house with beauty.
Art with a story behind it.
The who, the what, the when and the where.
AND…
It cost $19.95.
SEE…. I did win the lottery. Sort of.
There are tiny treasures all around you,
but you can’t see them if you are stiff-necked and straight-backed.
You have to get closer.
You are high-up and they are lowly.
If you can’t bend, you will miss them.
Lean in to look at the little jewels.
You wouldn’t hold a diamond out to examine it.
Tiny does not mean insignificant,
nor does big mean important.
Beauty trumps size.
Look closer.
You are missing things up there.
I am so glad that I am NOT a Kalanchoe daigremontiana.
This plant reproduces both sexually, by flowers, and asexually.
The ends of its leaves are covered with tiny “plantlets” with needy, draping roots.
Can you imagine trying to live with little”adultlets” hanging off of your arms?
Mother of thousands? Two progeny has about done me in.
The Kalanchoe babies do eventually drop off, but to where?
The same pot, that’s where.
So now, Mama Kalanchoe has to share her soil and water with all those “independent” plantlets.
Talk about “Not far from the tree.”
Next time you are feeling overwhelmed by motherhood, consider yourself lucky not to be a Kalanchoe daigremontiana.
Think how it would be to drop little clones of yourself all around your house and yard.
Now, there’s my next nightmare!
The “Old Woman in the Shoe” had it way easier than this mama.
Plantlets available…by the thousands.
I think of him when the wind blows.
I have his chimes.
I listen to their notes and wonder.
Is he sending me a message.
Is he spelling it out in the musical notes A, C, E, F, B?
What is he telling me? Is he calling my name?
Or do the notes just bring me back into this moment,
away from my plans for tomorrow, back from my worry of yesterday?
You can’t see the wind. You can only feel it and hear it.
Is it an unseen proof of faith?
I hear it singing. I watch its moving shadows.
He was here.
Now he’s not.
Or is he?
Thank goodness!
Where would we be without our fungi friends?
They turn all those stumps and sticks into soil.
The lichens are greenish colors,
but the fungi may be any color from black to orange.
Some are slimy,
while others are brittle.
Some are ugly,
but others are really beautiful.
Some grow solo,
while others form a “Charlie Foxtrot” (Cluster Fungi)
There are even groups who go out on a limb to have a Fungi Fiesta.
Fungi are Fun!
Follow the Flower!
